Dr. Nelson’s studies focus on the quantitative assessment of nigral neuron loss in aging, Parkinson’s disease, and related disorders; neuronal DNA replication and cell cycle deregulation in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disorders; risk factors for glioblastoma multiforme; and risk factors for cerebral beta amyloid deposition.

Dr. Nelson received his undergraduate from the St. Louis University College of Arts & Sciences, St. Louis, MO, his M.D. from the St. Louis University School of Medicine. He did his internship and residency in pathology at the St. Louis University Hospitals and a Fellowship in Neuropathology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Clinical Clerkship at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK. He was also an NIH (NINDS) Special Research Fellow in Neurochemistry in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO and an Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Officers Course (1-250-C3). He is an Alexander von Humboldt U.S. Senior Scientist Award recipient and is currently a Clinical Professor of Pathology at the John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii. He is board certified in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology.